YOU GO NOW

I like Kevin Moore a lot, I liked his work with DREAM THEATER and FATES WARNING, and his present project OSI. And there is something special about his vocals, as soon as I hear him sing I smile. "Dead Air For Radios" is a masterpiece in my opinion and this the follow-up while not quite as good is still a very strong album.

"Get Back In The Car" is classic CHROMA KEY with that steady beat and Kevin's understated vocals. Some keys in this one too. Processed vocals late. "Another Permenant Address" again has a steady beat as vocals come in. I like the vocals better on this one than the first track. Keys and some heaviness follow. "Nice To Know" is slower with a heavier sound. Vocals come in. Great tune. "Lunar" opens with spoken vocals then a beat with piano comes in. We get a sample from "Mission Control" speaking while the beat and piano continues. The spoken words are about Apollo 11 and their condition. This continues throughout. Cool song.

"When You Drive" is funny. A man talking about positive thinking and saying that when you come to a red light you should smile at the red light, make it your friend. Haha. He goes on and on, all the while a heavy beat continues with synths and keys. Maybe it's an anger managment course, although I think Budda is mentioned. Female vocals come and go. "Subway" opens with a heavy beat and keys. Processed vocals join in. Excellent sound after 3 minutes as it gets pretty intense. "Please Hang Up" features electronics and an operator speaking. "Astronaut Down" has a good beat with what sounds like Mission Control again speaking. Processed vocals follow then Mission Control joins in again. This continues throughout although Kevin's vocals stop being processed. "You Go Now" is kind of spacey with a beat. Piano comes in and samples of someone speaking.

Very much in the same style as "Dead Air For Radios" and another winner.

Chroma Key - You go now

Most of us know that Kevin Moore, the mastermind behind Chroma Key, was the keyboard player for American prog metal band Dream Theater up to 1995. Back then he already showed the world how talented a keyboard player he was, with his atmospheric use of the instrument, as well as being a technically pretty advanced player.

However, if you are to expect a prog metal band when you are about to listen to some Chroma Key, I'm sorry to inform you that you're awaiting a huge letdown. You see, Chroma Key's music is all in typical Kevin Moore-style, but sound wise it has more in common with electronic music alike trip-hop than it has with his previous (metal) band Dream Theater.

So what is there for the listener to expect? Well, for starters you are treated to 9 atmospheric and breathy compositions, which all have their roots in electronic music (trip-hop as I mentioned before), but with a twist of space-rock added to them. The songs are an average 4.30min long, which means they're rather conventional, commercial wise, in length. Yet each of these songs has rather a lot of depth to it compositional wise. Moore's keyboards are always there, either as a lead instrument or providing that extra touch to the background.

Moore's vocals by the way are rather an acquired taste so to speak. He might sound a bit monotonous to some, but I like his vocals. They tend to blend in perfectly with the airy atmosphere of his music. For those who know Kevin Moore's other project O.S.I. (The Office of Strategic Influence): his music here is a sort of basis for his O.S.I. work, only with O.S.I. he also incorporated metal elements.

I was quite ignorant with any development that Kevin Moore made after leaving Dream Theater only that I purchased two albums of OSI (Office of Strategic Intelligence). When I got this "You Go Now" album by Chroma Key I could easily associate the similarity of the music with those OSI albums especially on the spacey ambient style of the music. The first time I listened to this album, it did not quite impress me because it sounded like a collection of repeated chords and notes. On a second spin, I dig out the music deeply and I could sense the beauty of this album. And I know why I was not quite impressed with the first spin because the fact that the music uses loop sampling as rhythms section with Kevin Moore looks after most of the instruments: keyboards and bass in addition to his vocal role.

The music is I believe very accessible to many people and necessarily having prog ears. The ambient spacey style brings forward good nuance to capitalize the music for other purposes, not just listening to it. It's just like you are listening Pink Floyd, or Porcupine Tree where you can direct your mind and thoughts to explore your thinking boundaries. It's best played during the night after 10 PM in order to get a full benefit of the music. The first two opening tracks "Get back in the car" (5:05) and "Another permanent address" (5:05) are good indication on what the music sound like from the entire album. The keyboard work sounds peculiar Kevin Moore's style providing all the nuances in spacey style. The third track "Nice to know" (4:31) might give you an impression of Floydian style especially on singing style and keyboard rhythm section.

"Lunar" (3:14) brings forward nice combination of percussion loop with keyboard work overlaid by distance voice style with nice narration. It's an enjoyable track for me personally as I like the keyboard work. On the next track "When you drive" (5:27) the band continues the narrative style. It might sound boring as the chords and notes are quite repetitive in nature. If you like something with various and sudden changes, this kind of music is not suitable for you. It continues in similar vein into next track "Subway" (4:37) where this time Kevin adds some effects to improve the textures. The concluding track which is also the album title still maintains the ambient style with soft piano touch in slow tempo. It sounds like a music for original soundtrack - reminds me to Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire".

Overall, the music of this album is good and suitable for those who love spacey ambient style. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Most of the reviewers are warning that you shouldn't expect a heavy-metal oriented album a la Dream Theater. I would add that you shouldn't expect a space-rock album either.

This work has more to do with electronic and passionless music. Very few to none songs are moving: on the contrary, they almost sound of the same and boring stuff. The dull and monotonous vocals are not of a big help either.

This short album holds no interesting songs IMHHO. Some portions of them only might be valuable. It is difficult to be attracted with such songs as the electro beat "Lunar" or the dreadful "When You Drive".

This album has very little to offer in terms of just good music. I wasn't thrilled by the musical solo debut and this follow-up is just a poor one. I just dislike these computerized vocals as they are featured in several songs

This is a very weak album IMHHO. I really don't like this work; at all.

One star. I guess that I 'm not able to rate it lower.

A step closer to ambient experimental music...

You have to come to this realase with an open mind -yeah, your'e a prog fan so you have it, but I've seen more critics inside the prog fans than in the mainstream music-. The music is full of synths, patches, and a lot of keyboard layers that surrounds Kevin Moore's voice and the result is like a convulsive dream... the moods are kind of sad and cynic, and the music is slow and kind of dreamy...

Is similar to his previous work, Dead Air For Radios, but a lot more electronic, there are less pianos and drums, and there's more synth and drum programing... the robotic voice of Moore give a lot of space to wonder what he's saying through the words... like he's always meaning something else than what he's saying, so is nice to put him attention...

About production and quality, is a tip top... but I guess the difficult part to appriciate is the instrumentation... there's no too much of it... there's good amount of music, but there's no solos or something to show off... pure ambient and all the songs work for that goal... get a proper ambient of this space-ambient music...

Needs a lot of hearing and you most have to be in the mood to this kind of music. It's special to hear with headphones... what a journey... just close your eyes and enjoy... I'm about to do it... just nice...

"You Go Now" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US experimental/progressive pop/rock act Chroma Key. The album was released through Fight Evil Records in November 2000. Chroma Key is the brainchild of former Dream Theater keyboard player Kevin Moore. Chroma Key should be counted as his solo project as he plays just about everything on the album except guitars, which are played by David Iscove.

The music is relaxed/laid back ambient pop/rock with a slight experimental/progressive edge. Lots of programmed sounds and samples (I love the samples about Apollo 11 on "Lunar") on top of programmed drums, synth layers, and Kevin Moore´s almost sedated sounding vocal delivery. His vocals are melancholic and soothing to the ear but the his range is limited and the emotional impact is as a consequence rather one-dimensional. There are generally not enough melodic hooks on the album, which is a bit of a shame because when those hooks appear the music reaches a higher quality level. Fortunately the 39:17 minutes of playing time is just perfect, and I don´t reach a point where my attention wanders which could easily have happened had the album been a bit longer.

The sound production is professional and suits the music well. The drum sound is a bit flat and could have prospered from a more organic tone. It´s a bit anonymous and lacks warmth. But other than that "You Go Now" is a very well sounding album. So there are both good things and not so good things to say about "You Go Now". The ambient laid back atmosphere is pleasant and soothing to the ear, and if you are in the right mood for relaxed melancholic pop/rock, this is definitely an album which could apply to such a description. The danger is that for some listeners it might end up as background music because of the rather liniar emotional output. I wouldn´t call it tedious, and there are enough layers of sounds to keep the music interesting throughout, but it´s not the most dynamic music in terms of going from mellow to harsh, or quit to loud. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

Post-Rock meets Trip-Hop meets Space-Rock . . . being played by a Prog Metal keyboardist? What?

Yes, that's right. For those who don't know, Chroma Key is a musical project by ex-Dream Theater band member, Kevin Moore (or as Mike Portnoy lovingly refers to him, 'Kevin No-Moore'). But what are we to expect with this? Not metal, that's for damn sure. If you go into this expecting Images and Words the sequel, you're going to be sorely disappointed. So throw away any preconceptions you may have had about this, and embrace it for what it is: really amazing music!

Moore's duties on this effort are multiple; he sings, plays keyboards and bass. Drums and guitars are handled by others, but this is essentially a solo project in many ways, and of course, it is much more scaled-down as a result when compared to his other projects. But that's okay; it makes Chroma Key very special and unique.

Don't expect hard-rocking Prog epics, here; that's not what it's about. But this is very beautiful, placid, ambient music that is full of heart and worth trying out. I just love how the guy is able to mix all of these soaring soundscapes together in such a successful way. Perhaps it was best that he left Dream Theater when he did; perhaps he could sense that he would be limited musically had he stayed with them. Obviously, he could have theoretically been able to do both his other projects and be in Dream Theater, but maybe he felt staying with those guys wouldn't allow him enough time to work as hard on this other, more experimental stuff.

But whatever the reason, I am very impressed with Mr. Moore, and Chroma Key is something that surprised the hell out of me. I had no Idea I would love this music so much, or so quickly. It's not what you would expect when you hear the name 'Kevin Moore', but please don't allow that to ruin your opinion of this work. It's really quite refreshing, and while much more focused on mood and atmosphere rather than complex song structures and the like, it doesn't make it any less innovative, progressive or enjoyable.

I'm giving You Go Now a 3.8 out of 5. It's worth trying out if you like smooth, jazzier Space-Rock stylings.

Happy listening.

After the surprising Dead Air for Radios, Chroma Key's second album continued in the same style and sound. It's not that I was hoping for a style change, but the song quality suffers a bit from too much sameness, mainly due to the static mood of the pieces.

The album takes a tremendous start though, Get Back In The Car is such a pure and touching piece of melancholic trip rock that instantly sets me into 5 star mode. Moore is brilliant in mixing space rock, post rock, soft jazz and electro into his own unique type of lounge prog, for lack of a better name. Another Permanent Address is very similar but less compelling. Also Astronaut Down dwells in the same space and with a much better result. Great song.

More nice surprises come from two very atmospheric tracks. Nice To Know and the instrumental Lunar. Also When You Drive melts the trip hop of Massive Attack into deliciously lazy soft jazz. The remaining tracks, Subway, Please Hang Up and You Go Now don't do much for me.

I think that a greater diversity in mood and some progression from the previous album might have made for a more inspiring listen. On this album I miss the sweat of an artist challenging himself. Nevertheless, it's a good album with many strong tracks.

Kevin Moore's second and final solo album after leaving Dream Theater and Fates Warning--before the launch of OSI. It is, like it's predecessor, quite laid back and richly atmospheric. Obviously, Kevin has been impressed and affected by the manned space missions accomplished since the 1950s. Also, he is very much enjoying building songs around media voice samples.

1. "Get Back In The Car" (5:05) nice sleep-inducing fare. The vocal performance is, for my tastes, a little too laid back--almost as if he does really care. (8.5/10)

2. "Another Permanent Address" (5:05) a little more up-tempo, this one has a piano base that sounds like Bruce Hornsby. The vocal here is more engaged, the lyric a little more engaging, than that of the opener. Nice choruses and nice gentle piano solo in the instrumental section. (8.667/10)

3. "Nice To Know" (4:31) a slow, plodding, dramatic pace and CURE-like low-end leading soundscape supports Kevin's vocal. Too bad every vocal is fed through the exact same effects boxes; being a keyboard master, he obviously has choices of how he'd like his voice to sound. Still, it is one of the more interesting vocals on the album. The song has some cool heavier chords/sounds in between the vocals as well as an overall cool vibe to it. A top three song for me. (9/10)

4. "Lunar" (3:14) opens with TV anchor's news about an Apollo mission then piano with actual voice tapings of Apollo 11 astronaut and Mission Control intercommunication. Nice jazzy tropical outdoor lounge music in support. (8.667/10)

5. "When You Drive" (5:27) another vocal sample--this time from an Indian man--giving relaxing yoga-like driving lessons. Another vocal sample of a young girl singing in a foreign (Southeast Asian) tongue is used as well. A song with a nice groove that could fit well on one of the Buddha Lounge collections. I like it very much ... I'm just not sure how proggy this is. Another top three song. (8.75/10)

6. "Subway" (4:37) Vocoder Kevin sings over World Music / Buddha Lounge music for the first couple minutes until at 2:26 a heavy synth chord ups the intensity of tension for the following Peter Gabriel-like electric piano solo and then finally takes over and dominates for about a minute before VK rejoins. PG piano and African-like drums to end. (8.667/10)

7. "Please Hang Up" (1:59) weird, wobbly little thing that also reminds me of 1980s Peter Gabriel. Cute editing of the automated telephone operator's vocal. (4.25/5)

8. "Astronaut Down" (4:56) cool song using a nice, driving musical base over which astronaut samples are mixed with Kevin's effected voice and Peter Gabriel-like Fender Rhodes. Nice little synth solos starting at the end of the third minute and then, the second, later--all beneath astronaut chatter. My final top thee song. (8.75/10)

9. "You Go Now" (4:23) nice almost ambient Fender Rhodes-based electronica within which odd spacey sounds and vocal samples are woven. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 39:17

A very pleasant, unoffensive, often engaging if soporific album listen. While I do enjoy Kevin's use of media samples woven within the song structures, I just wish he would employ a little more dynamic diversity.

B/four stars; an interesting and enjoyably dreamy journey into the mellower side of former Dream Theater keyboard artist Kevin Moore's creative brainspace.